Soc Sci Med . Pandemic influenza and gender imbalance: Mortality selection before births

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Soc Sci Med


. 2022 Sep 5;311:115299.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115299. Online ahead of print.
Pandemic influenza and gender imbalance: Mortality selection before births


Kota Ogasawara ¹



Affiliations

• PMID: 36088722
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115299

Abstract

This study uses data from the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic in Japan along with newly digitized and complete census records on births and infant deaths to analyze mortality selection in utero. I find that fetal exposure to the influenza pandemic during the first trimester of the pregnancy decreases the proportion of males at birth. The results from mechanism analysis suggest that this decline in male births is associated with the deterioration of fetal and infant health. This result supports a wide range of existing literature on the long-run adverse effects of pandemic influenza.

Keywords: Gender imbalance; Pandemic influenza; Prenatal selection; Selection bias; Trivers–Willard hypothesis.